


The Nutcracker

by justanotherpipedream



Category: The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Canon-Typical Violence, Christmas Fluff, Dancer! Bucky, F/M, M/M, Pianist! Tony
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-27
Updated: 2017-12-27
Packaged: 2019-02-18 23:10:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,216
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13110459
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/justanotherpipedream/pseuds/justanotherpipedream
Summary: Steve slid the contract across the desk, underlining the details with his pen. "The Maria Stark Foundation puts together their holiday benefit every year to raise money for St. Jude's Children Hospital. Since it's the 10th year anniversary for the gala, Tony wanted to put together a special performance with the NYC Ballet.."a.k.a. The one where Bucky is a ballet dancer, Tony is a pianist, and The Nutcracker is performed.





	The Nutcracker

**Author's Note:**

  * For [tisfan](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tisfan/gifts).



> Fill for the 2017 Winteriron Holiday Exchange for the prompts:
> 
> AU where Tony Stark is a pianist and Bucky Barnes is a ballet dancer; they get together when their agents push a holiday charity collaboration publicity stunt on them. Bonus for enemies to lovers tropes + Making Christmas Cookies
> 
> I think I took a slightly different direction with this prompt than originally intended, but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless!

Bucky glared at his agent with disdain.

"No, no, no. No _fucking_ way Steve-"

"Come on Buck-"

"You _know_ how much I hate the Starks-"

"Howard Stark. You hate Howard. With good reason, but I'm not getting into that now. Besides, this has nothing to do with him. It's called the _Maria Stark_ Foundation for a reason. You haven't even met Tony yet and believe me, he's nothing like his old man."

Bucky groaned. Steve's jaw narrowed in determination, a familiar gleam in his eyes that Bucky recognized all too well. No matter how many times Bucky had tried, there was no convincing his best friend otherwise once he got that look in his eyes. Then again, Bucky probably wouldn't have gotten half the auditions he did if Steve wasn't good at his job.

Steve slid the contract across the desk, underlining the details with his pen. "The Maria Stark Foundation puts together their holiday benefit every year to raise money for St. Jude's Children Hospital. Since it's the 10th year anniversary for the gala, Tony wanted to put together a special performance with the NYC Ballet.."

Bucky gingerly picked up the contract. His eyes skimmed the details, eyebrows raised. The pay was honestly not that great. If it wasn’t for a good cause, Bucky probably wouldn’t even have looked twice at it.

Bucky sighed. "Fine. I'll do it"

Steve beamed, uncapping his pen and held it out to Bucky. "I'll call Pepper tomorrow and tell her the news. Don't look so glum, it'll be a great opportunity for you to help your bid for principal dancer next year. You're lucky I managed to convince Tony to give you the role before he opened it up for auditions."

Bucky narrowed his eyes. "I know I should be at least pretending to be grateful right now, but how the hell do you know Tony Stark?"

Steve's face was blank, but Bucky caught the miniscule twitch of his hands. "I met him through a...friend."

Bucky narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "A friend.?"

Steve fidgeted under Bucky's gaze, forcibly straightening the papers on his desk. "You don't know them."

"I've met all of your friends. You've can’t help but introduce me to every person you decide to be-friend someone five minutes after you meet them, so who... _oh."_

Bucky cackled as he punched Steve in the shoulder. "You finally talked to Natasha! That only took months of awkward pining! So, when's the date?"

Steve winced as he rubbed his shoulder, ears turned a bright red. "Not a date. We're just going jogging next week-"

Bucky whistled. "Wow Stevie, _jogging_ -"

Steve glared. "No date. She's just showing me a new bakery she was talking about after your last practice-"

Bucky held up a hand. "Hold on here, let me get this straight. Natasha Romanoff, the same Natasha Romanoff that I know, offered to take you to _the bakery_ ? No one knows where the bakery is Steve. _No one_. I've been dancing with her for years, and not one person in the company knows where she gets her coffee in the morning. She hoards it like a dragon."

Steve frowned, eyes slowly widening in panic. "Wait, you're saying-"

"That you scored a date with Natasha Romanoff. Congratulations, I’m so proud I could cry. "

Steve paled as he collapsed back in his chair, unmoving. Bucky leaned forward in concern.

"Stevie? You alright?"

"Oh my god. _Oh my god._ How did I not realize this was a _date_? What do I do?" Steve wheezed, squeezing his hair in his hands as he slammed his head down onto his desk.

Bucky patted him on the back. "Breathe. Wear those stupid bright blue running shorts you like, and bring your inhaler just in case. Just don't die. I won't be able to avenge you for at least a few months-"

Steve was appalled. "Wait. Why not?"

Bucky gave him a withering look. "Because, I'm not having Sunset Bain take over as principal female dancer _thank you very much_. I'd like to keep my sanity in tact. Now, come on." Bucky waved the signed stack of papers. "If you want this show to happen, we've got work to do."

* * *

"Now, remind me why you broke into my emergency stash of chocolate mint ice cream...again? That's my last pint."

Natasha hugged the pint closer to her chest.  "Because first, there is never a bad time for ice cream. Second, this is _entirely your fault_."

Tony's eye twitched as his mind went over the last week. "I didn't break anything, and I was early to brunch. I was even early for rehearsal this morning. What exactly is my fault?"

Natasha swirled the spoon in the melting clumps, licking the spoon clean before pointing her spoon. " _You_ were the one who convinced me to ask Rogers out. And now- now we have a _date_."

Tony blinked, stabbing the spoon halfway to his mouth back into his ice cream. "I thought you liked Steve."

Natasha glared. "I invited him to join me on my morning run to _Clint's_."

"Wait _,_ as in the infamous bakery where you get your coffee and muffin every morning?  The place where you would literally kill someone if they took your favourite croissant? The bakery where you've only taken me after you made me swear on my father's grave-"

"Don't remind me. Your dad isn't even dead, and you hate him."

"True, but you didn't know that at the time did you?"

Natasha muttered Russian curses under her breath and slumped forward onto her arms. Natasha's accent was mostly faded now, thanks to years in New York and no good reason to return to her former country. Now, Natasha wielded it as a sharp weapon, strong and in full-force when her anger arose. Tony silently  scooped a large heaping of his ice cream and dumped it into her carton.

"Wow. You must _really_ like him. Didn't you run an extra half-hour to throw off Sam and Sharon from following you there the other day?"

"It's not my fault they can't keep up."

"Okay. So spy worthy escaping aside, you like him, he most definitely likes you. He literally ran into a door when you walked by. I've only ever seen that happen in movies. Trust me, that man adores you. And, if it doesn't work out you'll come over and we can bitch about it over ice cream."

Natasha nodded, humming as she pulled another pink of vanilla ice cream of the freezer. "This would go well with cookies."

Tony sighed. "I guess that means we're baking now?"

Natasha grabbed the sugar and cinnamon out of the cupboards. "Don't whine. We're making pryanki. Much better than your terrifying american gingerbread men."

"..with extra honey?"

"And cinnamon."

Tony heaved himself off the stool and walked over to the sink, “Did you hear? Pepper decided to continue on with the ballet, even after you told us you couldn’t perform with us this year. Why do you hate me again?”

Natasha flicked sugar at Tony's face. "Don't be dramatic Antoshka, you know they want us to perform another evening show the same night. You know if f I could, I would have." She carefully sifted the sugar into the giant bowl. “How are things with your mother? Did she get that paperwork sorted?”  
  
Tony slumped back onto the stool, hugging the jar of honey to his chest. “From what she tells me, I think so. Despite their awful food puns, Murdock and Nelson might actually have a fighting chance.”

How Pepper managed to find decent lawyers that couldn’t be bought was still a surprise to Tony. Especially with the high profile media coverage of the upcoming  divorce plastered on every gossip magazine. Almost every lawyer Maria approached all but ran away, refusing to take on the team of Stark lawyers. Whether Murdock and Nelson are brave or foolish still remains to be seen.

“Mom is determined to make a power move which is why she’s doubling down this year on the event. Just in case.”

 _In case Howard pulled the plug_ went unsaid, but Natasha scowled all the same.

Natasha’s face darkened as she forcefully stirred the bowl, eyes flickering to Tony’s hands clasped in front of him. They no longer hurt as much as they used to, but Tony clenched his right hand out of habit. Howard’s last parting gift to him was a lovely Christmas trip to the ER.  Meticulous physiotherapy sessions had gotten rid of most of the pain, but thinking of Howard always made his hand hurt.

“Fine. But then you tell me all about the dancer you recommended. James Barnes."

Natasha paused as she popped her head out from behind the cupboard.."Bucky? He said yes then?"

Tony snorted. " _Bucky_ ? What kind of dancer goes by the name 'Bucky'? I refuse to call him Bucky, there are a million better nicknames than _Bucky_. Are you sure this guy is as good as you say he is?”

"Bucky is good at what he does. He's the favourite to make principal male dancer next year. I don't want to tear my hair out when we talk, and he isn't too handsy like Rumlow. And he will not annoy you to death like Hammer will.”

Tony shuddered at the thought. “ _Everyone_ is better than Hammer. That isn’t even a valid litmus test, the bar is set so low.”

Natasha hummed, spoon stirring the melting sugar on the stove. “True. Twenty dollars says that Bucky is most definitely your type.”

Tony gave her a withering look. “What happened to _don’t mix work with pleasure Tony_ , _don’t be stupid Tony-._ ”

A giant bowl was set in front of Tony as Natasha motioned to him. Tony sprinkled in some cinnamon while Natasha mixed with a wooden spoon.

“Technically this is not work, it’s for charity. And, that was because Sunset Bain is the absolute worst. Antoshka, I know that these past few months have been difficult with your parents, and especially with Christmas coming up-”

“I’m _fine_ Nat-”

“No, you’re not.”

“Believe me, after everything he’s done-”

“He’s still your father. You don’t have to be alright.”

Natasha slung her arm around Tony’s shoulder, squeezing him gently. “Things will work out as they should. You deserve to be happy Antoshka. I’m not telling you to marry the man, just give him a chance.”

* * *

 

Tony sat quietly in the back row of the theatre. Rehearsals were in full swing, and Tony refused to make the same mistake of interrupting the dancers before Maria was finished with them. The last time Tony tried to visit Natasha before rehearsals were finished, Maria almost threw a shoe at him for distracting the dancers.

Thankfully, it looked like they were almost finished, and Tony could sneak around to say hi to Natasha before he had his first rehearsal with Bucky. Sneaking through the back, Tony made his way back towards the dressing rooms, weaving around the racks of costumes and props.

Tony spotted the familiar sign of Natasha’s dressing room, when a figure stepped in front, blocking the way. Tony scowled up at the leering dancer in front of him.

“Leave me alone Justin, I don’t have the time or the energy to deal with you today.”

Justin Hammer laughed as he towered over Tony with a leer. “Aw come on Stark, you know you missed me. It’ll be just like old times.”

Tony pushed past Hammer, as he stepped to the side. “ How’s the yacht doing? Which tabloid did you sell me out to again? Oh right, all of them. You can take your so called ‘help’ and shove it up your-”

Hammer stepped in front of Tony again, grabbing tightly onto Tony’s shoulder. “Don’t kid yourself Tony, I know what you came here to do. You don’t have to pretend to save face, I won’t even make you beg. I accept..”

Tony paused in pushing Hammer’s arm away, staring up at him in bewilderment. “Excuse me?”

Hammer puffed out his chest, and Tony was so close to punching him straight in the teeth. “Oh Tony, Tony, Tony, what would you do without me? Don’t worry. I’ll perform at your gala.  Besides, we’ve all heard about mommy and daddy’s big split. We’ve all heard your mother _begging_ for scraps-”

Tony’s eyes flashed, snarling as he darted forward. “How fucking _dare_ you-”

Before Tony could take a swing, a dark blur passed in front of him. Hammer was slammed into the wall behind him. Hammer squeaked as muscular arms pushed Hammer into the wall as watched the dark haired man scowled. Dark long hair fell across his shoulders, and Tony blinked in surprise as the other dancer, Barnes apparently, held Hammer up against the wall with ease. Barnes sneered in disgust.

“I gotta admit Hammer, I knew that you were an asshole, but I didn’t realize that you were _this_ much of an asshole. Now, apologize.”

Hammer sneered, splittingly furious at the man holding him against the wall. “You _dare_ threaten me Barnes? My lawyers will bury you, you will _never_ work in this town again-”

Hammer screamed as Tony’s knee swung up between his legs. He slid down the wall as he curled up on the ground. Tony crossed his arms with a snarl.

“Go ahead Hammer, _try it._ I dare you. But don’t be surprised when I tell the world all about your new girlfriend. Oh you thought I didn’t know about that?  I’m sure Director Pierce will be so _pleased_ that you have such similar tastes in women.”

Hammer growled as his face soured, red splotching his face. Tony could feel his heart pounding in his chest as Hammer glared at him. Slowly, Hammer got to his feet and hobbled down the hallway.

Barnes shook his head, staring at Tony in amazement. “That was incredible.” He frowned as he looked at Tony’s shoulder, concern furrowing his brow as Tony continued to stare frozen, eyes glued to the now empty hallway. “You alright?”

Dark grey eyes focused on Tony’s shoulder. “I saw that bastard grab you, are you hurt?”

Tony’s shoulders started to shake, and Barnes held out his hand in concern. Before Barnes could say another word, Tony keeled over in laughter. Barnes was bewildered as he watched the tears stream down the other man’s face.

“Oh wow, that was satisfying.  I’m more than alright, I’m so happy right now that I could die tomorrow and say that I’ve lived a satisfying life.”

Tony bounced on his feet, before wincing. Tony carefully tugged his sleeve off his shoulder. “Okay ouch, hey that bastard actually bruised me.”

Barnes frowned. He bent down and unzipped his duffle bag, tossed onto the ground earlier on. He cracked a cold compress before gently placing it onto Tony’s shoulder. “Here, you should ice it.”

Flutters filled Tony’s chest as he studied the gorgeous man in front of him, carefully examining his shoulder. Dark wisps of hair flopped over his face, and Tony wanted so badly to run his fingers through those long, luscious strands. Barnes smiled crookedly, and Tony felt the heat curl deep in his belly. Tony almost see Natasha’s smug satisfaction in his mind.

 _I told you so Anthoska._ **_Exactly_ ** _your type._

Wait, when did Barnes get so close? Tony tilted his head up as Barnes stepped back. Tony tried to squash down the quell of disappointment as Barnes held out his hand

“Well, from what I heard, that asshole more than deserved it. Stark right?”

Heat radiated between them as Tony clasped Barnes’ hand. Tony found it hard to think as Bucky firmly but gently shook it. “Stark- yes, I’m Stark. Tony Stark.  But you can call me Tony handsome.”

Barnes chuckled, and Tony swore that his voice got huskier. “I’m James Barnes, or as everyone calls me, Bucky.”

Tony was appalled. “I’m sorry, but I refuse to call you Bucky. I’m not twelve, and you’re not a deer. James? James sounds good. If you really want a nickname, I’ve got hundreds of others. Anyways, it’ll be a pleasure working with you cupcake.”

Barnes blinked, and Tony felt a creeping sense of dread. Oh god, did he read this entire situation wrong? Now Barnes is going to hate him-

Tony let out a breath of relief as Barnes laughed. His eyes darkened and Tony could feel his heart pounding in his chest. “Well, _dollface_ , you can call me whatever you want.  I guess I’ll have to work on that, you calling my name.”

Tony licked his lips. “You’re going to lose, but I look forward to it. You trying to convince me that is.”

James, winked. “Oh I will. Have no doubt about that.” Tony reluctantly pulled his hand away as Bucky bent down to swing the duffle bag over his shoulder. Tony cleared his throat as he stared at his feet.

“Honestly, thank you. For helping me out with that asshole, but mostly for agreeing to perform at the gala. I know that the pay isn’t much-”

“It doesn’t matter. It’s for the kids, so I’m happy to help. Plus, getting to see that look on Hammer’s face was entirely worth it.”

Tony beamed up at James, and James smiled helplessly back.

Tony opened his mouth, but snickered as he stared over Bucky’s shoulder.

“Looks like your friend has finally scrounged up the courage to knock on Natasha’s dressing room door. Wanna go watch and see how things play out?”

James lit up, his face filled with glee. “I can we’re going to get along swimmingly. Oh look, Steve’s got flowers!”

Tony grabbed James’ wrist and tugged lightly, leading him down the hallway.  “Come on, come on! Let’s go see if we can overhear anything.”

* * *

Tony sighed with satisfaction as he cradled the warm mug to his chest. Every single practice over the past few months, James brought a hot flask of coffee with him for his smaller boyfriend. Not just regular coffee, but somehow this was some of the best coffee Tony had ever tasted in his life.

Tony couldn’t help but openly stare as the dancer worked through his stretches. James was beautiful when he moved, and Tony could see why Natasha was impressed with him. Raw strength radiated from every turn and jump, and the dancer held a quiet but powerful stage presence. Tony felt his breath catch in his throat as James straightened and turned back to face Tony. James eyes darkened, licking his lips as he grinned at Tony.

“Ready?”

Tony nodded, forcing himself to look away and down at the keys in front of him. “I’m ready when you are snowflake.”

Tony felt himself being tugged against a firm chest. A soft kiss was pressed to his head and Tony couldn’t help but close his eyes. Tony squeaked as he felt a firm hand pat his ass. James nuzzled into his neck. “Alright, now I’m ready.”

Tony huffed as his lips twitched. “Behave. If you’re nice, and we get through this soon, I'll even give you your Christmas present early.”

James nipped him with a grin. “With an offer that tempting how can I refuse?”

Tony placed his hands on the the keys once again as James took his position center stage.

“Five, six, seven, eight-”

**Author's Note:**

> I'm a fan of tisfan and 27dragons' Nights in Sandbridge series, so I had to slip in some Nat/Steve but more importantly, Nat/Ice cream. Let me know what you think, and come find me on [tumblr ](http://summerpipedream.tumblr.com)


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